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Tuesday, March 1, 2011

German Chocolate and Almond Cocoa Cream Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Over time, I've collected many recipes and lots of ideas from Taste of Home magazine. The recipe for this cake, originally called Chocolate Lover's Delight, was developed by Sandra Hackney and it appeared in the magazine about a year ago. It's a wonderful cake and the recipe featured below is the one that was published in the magazine. What I want to talk about, however, is how the processes of making this delicious cake can be simplified. I have never found that German chocolate produces especially flavorful cakes. As a matter of fact, I think cake layers made with this type of chocolate are merely colorful vehicles for highlighting the tastes of other fillings and frosting. I've made this cake several times now, and I can tell you with certainty, that the icing is what sets this cake apart from others you may have tried. The secret to this cake is found in its grace notes, not in its layers. With that in mind, I decided to try the cake using a German chocolate cake mix. I made the cake following directions on the back of the box, save for the fact that I used three, rather than two, 9-inch cake pans to hold the batter. I've found that doing this eliminates the need to split layers once the cake has cooled. This of course alters baking time. Mine take about 20 minutes to bake, but timing is a fickle thing and you'll want to watch your layers carefully. The almond flavor in the finished cake comes from almond extract, so I've also decided to eliminate the ground almonds used to sprinkle on the layers. They add cost, not flavor, to the finished cake and have no texture that might make their use worthwhile. In the interest of transparency, I must tell you that I made extra icing, increasing the recipe by 1/2, to assure discernible layers and complete coverage of the cake for its photograph. I hope that, in its original or simplified form, you'll give this cake a try. It is really delicious. Here's the original recipe.German Chocolate and Cocoa Cream Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Sandra Hackney

the cake look so lovely and thank you for the tips! im not good at layering cake and would try to avoid it. now, i would like to give it a try and you gave good recommendation about it (:may i know what's Creme de Cacao? thank you!

How clever to use 3 cake pans instead of 2 to eliminate splitting the cake (to me, it's hard to get an even layer). I'll definitely follow your advise and try to make this cake. It looks perfectly delicous!

I'm hosting the Culinary Smackdown Battle on my blog. This month's theme is COOKIES! (it doesn't have to be a new creation, you can use a previous post on your site too) Would you please join us for the fun? I have some cool prizes waiting too.

I'm with Ronda; I resolved to eat a bit more healthy starting today... this cake is a big temptation! LOL! Looks delicous and thank you for the "shortcuts". I always like the "improvements" you have. Blessings ~ Tanna

Any German chocolate cake I've been served had coconut in the frosting. Not a huge coconut fan so I always disliked the cake. This is one that I will definitely want to try! Thanks for the tips on making it more simple.

Beautiful German chocolate layered cake and with that almond cocoa cream frosting...gosh you have inspired me to bake this for my next birthday :) Thanks Mary for sharing this delightful cake with us...no wonder it was named Chocolate Lover's Delight :) Lovely cake !

I love the way you look at recipes . . . what really works, what doesn't. What adds cost, but not flavor . . . you are like our own cooking scientist and we all get to benefit from your work. Thanks, Mary.

What a fabulous recipe! I've got to start really cooking again! I love the extra icing part! I always try to do that well! You inspired me to make a version of Chicken Picata the other night! I will post my version later! I was so good! Thanks for the idea! Will definitely be making this cake soon as we have 6 birthdays within the next 2 weeks! Have a great day! Carolyn

This cake looks wonderful! Thank you for the tips and info. I would usually have my cake plain, and I have always prefer fresh cream icing than buttercream icing. This icing sounds great, almost similar to my favourite fresh cream icing. Thanks for sharing this. Have a lovely day!

The frosting does look incredible, Mary. I'm intrigued: it seems to have a lot of body and hold itself quite well in the cake, yet it's only whipped cream with sugar and cocoa. Definitely going to try it out!

I love your honesty and I'll be trying the simplified version too. I've spent a lot of time as well making scratch cakes that didn't quite live up to their billing but an incredible frosting or filling did. I'm with ya' on this one.

Oh, this looks just delicious!!!! I do love Taste Of Home, and have subscribed to it from time to time. I do find that most frosting recipes skimp, and am glad you made the extra frosting. I usually try to make about half more, too. Of course that would have NOTHING to do with my constant licking the bowl and spoon and taste testing!

Oooo, I'll bet that frosting is so light and creamy. Dangerous. You probably can't guess that it is so rich. ☺ I kept my Taste of Home subscription for 18 years before I finally decided to let it lapse this year. That's a whole lot of magazines with great ideas to sift through!

I love german chocolate cake....have never had it without the coconut frosting....this sounds very good..Do you ever escape the kitchen? I'll bet your husband just loves to come in and see whats in the oven!

I left you the stylish blogger award on my blog. I'm sure you have received this many times but you greatly deserve it for your beautiful blog! You can view the award on my blog at http://www.ryanbakes.com/2011/03/stylish-blogger-award.html

Sometimes a frosting highlights and cpomplements a fabulous cake and sometimes the cake does the same for the frosting. But this is one fabulous cake and frosting and it looks and sounds as if both are so delicious and work together as one. Beautiful Mary. x

Oh That looks fabulous creation! I so would like to invite you to participate in the cake event I have happening on my blog - Please check out details here Look forward!http://priyasnowserving.blogspot.com/2011/02/announcing-second-guest-event.html

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